When a successful sporting event becomes Africa’s best brand advertising
By Stephen Granger
The dust has settled on Ultra-trail Cape Town (UTCT) trails and most of the international athletes who participated have found sufficient gaps in flight bans to depart our shores, following an exceptional Ultra-trail Cape Town event which...
Live action another winner at UTCT
By Stephen Granger
Jim Walmsley and Courtney Dauwalter blazed to impressive victories on Table Mountain trails in last week’s Ultra-trail Cape Town (UTCT) 100km, but there was an impressive ‘behind the scenes’ alternate ‘relay run’ over the challenging course with...
To redefine the art of trail – just throw away the rule book
By Stephen Granger
They’re bold, brave and ballsy and stirring up a storm in trail running circles. And they’re in Cape Town to compete in the country’s premier trail running event – Ultra-trail Cape Town (UTCT).
Courtney Dauwalter and Mathieu Blanchard...
Running’s role championing conservation
By Stephen Granger
The environment and trail running are two sides of the same coin and while challenges remain to be solved, the partnership between SANParks and the trail-running community in South Africa is strengthening conservation and becoming a global...
Western Europe’s highest mountain woos Africa’s trail runners (part 2)
By Stephen Granger
While the full circumnavigation around Mont Blanc in the form of the Ultra-trail Mont Blanc 100 miler is undoubtedly the showpiece of this week’s running festival at the French Alpine town of Chamonix, the shorter-distance faces have...
Sportspeople can pivot too – the story of a rugby player turned ultra-distance runner
By Stephen Granger
Two years ago, a re-wired former South African provincial rugby player signalled his arrival on the ultra-trail scene with a convincing win in the 50km Bastille Day Trail Run. Last weekend, Matt Healy reminded the local trail...
Educating footballers
Former Nigerian international, Waidi Akanni is on a mission to prevent young footballers from sacrificing their education for a career on the pitch. This will help Nigeria, he says.
by Humprehy Njoku
Waidi Akanni comes from the generation of Nigerian football...
Trail Running: Tragedy in China elicits pause, even in Africa
The tragic outcome of the recent Yellow Stone Forest 100km in China has left trail runners and organisers around the world with much to ponder in respect of the potential dangers of a sport, where the “edge and adventure”...
The running academy driving South Africa’s distance running revolution
As a young girl, Elana van Zyl delighted at running along the tracks and roads on her parents’ farm near Albertina. At first, running was just fun. Later, she discovered that it was something she could do better than...
World record set on Africa’s most iconic mountain
Pointing to the summit -
AJ Calitz (right) and Christiaan Greyling (left) of Team K-Way take stock of the magnitude of the challenge. Picture: Stephen Granger
The K-Way team of AJ Calitz and Christiaan Greyling have made it into the...